Watching him, Aria saw her own frustration. How much longer would they be there? What did Hess and Sable have planned for them? Marron had said that in days, Aether storms might be constant and everywhere. Was that happening now on the outside? Every second they remained trapped in this small room robbed them of their chance for survival.

Her gaze fell to her injured arm, resting on her thigh. There had to be a way out of this. She just needed to figure it out.

“Soren,” she said after a while.

“What?” he said wearily.

“When Hess comes for you, tell him I want to see him too.”

Some time later, she woke curled on her side on the hard mattress. Roar stood in the middle of the room, staring vacantly into space as his hand worked an invisible blade. Aria had seen him do that a hundred times with steel flashing at his fingertips—a habit he had when he was restless. Now there was nothing but air.

Soren was gone.

Roar stilled when he saw her, embarrassment flitting across his handsome face. He sat opposite her and crossed his arms. “You were right. An hour ago, Guardians came to take Soren to Hess.” Roar tipped his head to the door. A plastic bottle and two trays rested on the floor. “They brought food. I was going to wake you, but you looked like you needed sleep. Also, it looks terrible.”

Aria sat up, her muscles stiff, her mind groggy. “How long was I out?”

“A few hours.”

She hadn’t meant to sleep, but the pain in her arm was exhausting, and it’d been more than a day since she’d rested. Her eyes had slammed closed as soon as she’d laid her head down.

“Did you eat?” she asked. Both trays looked untouched.

Roar shrugged. “I would take a bottle of Luster right now. Nothing else.”

She studied him, gnawing her lip. Roar had always been lean, but lately his cheekbones looked sharper, and deep shadows welled beneath his eyes.

She had no appetite either, but she grabbed the water and joined him on the same bunk. After taking a long drink, she handed it to him.

“That’s not Luster.”

“Just drink it.”

Roar took it and drank.

“Why did they take him? Why Perry and not us?”

“You know why, Aria.”

She didn’t like his dismissive tone. Worse, she didn’t like the confirmation of her worries.

Hess and Sable had taken Perry because of his connection to Cinder. They planned to use him somehow.

Roar said nothing more. As the moments passed, she felt him retreat. Aria picked at the crusted mud on her uniform, hating the silence that stretched and stretched, with nothing but the sound of their breathing.

Quiet was right on Perry. Not on Roar.